MeKaNoiZ

I miraculously watched this several episodes in, because it seemed fun at the beginning. But the characters started to seem too lame and exaggerated after a while.

They are very obvious, very shallow, but not funny. It was first good to see Benny's inner dilemma, and little flashes of his anxieties about his sexuality. But even "that" has vanished and the whole thing turned into a sitcom without the laugh-track, because it is not funny at all.

There are distressful details from real life, sprinkled around, such as an egoist boyfriend, gay in denial, deceased sibling, social stress in the first days of a new school, but they are all very superficial and trapped inside stereotypes.

You first think that these are the imminent topics that will be processed and solved. But then they get pushed aside and ossify in the sidelines. We start to see daily activities and new irrelevant characters, as if it is a demonstration of campus life.

It's like a production structurally intended for early teens, but topics and content are for late teens. I just hope the youth is not like this in real life now.

From the original series, we already know the concept is good. It is one of the best styles of anime and in a colorful fantasy setting. I actually love it.

But unfortunately, there are too many awkward moments in dialogues that disrupts the flow all the time. It was still bearable, until a later episode made me sick:

Four people jumped on a pony and forced him to run from a beast!

Hey dear producers, maybe you are not aware, but that is "animal abuse", and being in an anime or cartoon, doesn't change that fact.

Everyone has legs to run, but you are teaching the youth that animals are our slaves to run for us, whatever weight we load on them.

That's where I turned it off, and I'm not sorry.

There are some films which may not be perfect but it has a special feel, and good ideas that make it special. Like most cult films. And this one is a sci-fi fantasy with some interesting ideas about the future and space. It asks a great "what if...?" question and answers it very intelligently. Makes you think too.

Tom's acting is very natural and sympathetic. Rest of the characters are not so vivid. So you connect with the boy and the dog mostly. The adventure is not very interesting. But with the conceptual ideas infused in the story, it becomes an exquisite experience as a whole.